Managing the North Fork Coast

Goldsmith inlet on Long Island Sound in Peconic and Hashamomuck Cove, a narrow beach alongside the North Road are the focus of attempts to control the flow of sand along the North Fork coastline.  

We talk with activist Hugh Switzer and Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski about proposed solutions.


Listen here

More information about Goldsmith Inlet is available at the Group to Save Goldsmith Inlet's web-site: goldsmithinlet.org


updates:  

The Suffolk Times reports: 

"A public meeting Monday night (Sept. 19) at Southold Town Hall was held to discuss the proposed Hashamomuck project.

Some Southold Town residents are questioning if the proposed $17.7 million beach re-nourishment project for Hashamomuck Cove will be worth it if sea levels rise.

Doug Hardy* of Southold, a retired marine science professor said “This is not a solution to the problem as long as sea levels continue to rise. The best and most recent science says that sea levels are accelerated.”

Erosion and flooding in that area also threatens additional properties and roadways, engineers have said. ACOE estimates that $32 million worth of property damage will take place over 50 years if the project is not completed.

To restore the beach, residents would also like to know if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) will use sand dredged from Long Island Sound instead of trucking it in from a sand mine.

In addition, residents are asking for information on how a series of groins built in the water have impacted erosion.

When asked about raising Route 48 and Route 25 as a solution, ACOE representative Gene Brickman said such a project will cost far more than restoring the beach.

Kevin McAllister* of Defend H2O, an environmental protection group, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation had made sea level projections based on low, medium and high models and asked which one was used in the ACOE study.

DEC representative Sue McCormick said the stats were based on the low-end estimates."

..............

Residents can submit their comments about the proposal to:
Judith Johnson, project biologist, New England District Corps of Engineers, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751
Or via email: Judith.L.Johnson@usace.army.mil
 
The public comment period will be closed Sept. 30.

-----------------------------

* Sustainable East End spoke with Doug Hardy last December.

and Kevin McAllister in February 

Managing the North Fork Coast

Goldsmith inlet on Long Island Sound in Peconic and Hashamomuck Cove, a narrow beach alongside the North Road are the focus of attempts to control the flow of sand along the North Fork coastline.  

We talk with activist Hugh Switzer and Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski about proposed solutions.


Listen here

More information about Goldsmith Inlet is available at the Group to Save Goldsmith Inlet's web-site: goldsmithinlet.org


updates:  

The Suffolk Times reports: 

"A public meeting Monday night (Sept. 19) at Southold Town Hall was held to discuss the proposed Hashamomuck project.

Some Southold Town residents are questioning if the proposed $17.7 million beach re-nourishment project for Hashamomuck Cove will be worth it if sea levels rise.

Doug Hardy* of Southold, a retired marine science professor said “This is not a solution to the problem as long as sea levels continue to rise. The best and most recent science says that sea levels are accelerated.”

Erosion and flooding in that area also threatens additional properties and roadways, engineers have said. ACOE estimates that $32 million worth of property damage will take place over 50 years if the project is not completed.

To restore the beach, residents would also like to know if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) will use sand dredged from Long Island Sound instead of trucking it in from a sand mine.

In addition, residents are asking for information on how a series of groins built in the water have impacted erosion.

When asked about raising Route 48 and Route 25 as a solution, ACOE representative Gene Brickman said such a project will cost far more than restoring the beach.

Kevin McAllister* of Defend H2O, an environmental protection group, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation had made sea level projections based on low, medium and high models and asked which one was used in the ACOE study.

DEC representative Sue McCormick said the stats were based on the low-end estimates."

..............

Residents can submit their comments about the proposal to:
Judith Johnson, project biologist, New England District Corps of Engineers, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751
Or via email: Judith.L.Johnson@usace.army.mil
 
The public comment period will be closed Sept. 30.

-----------------------------

* Sustainable East End spoke with Doug Hardy last December.

and Kevin McAllister in February 

Fire Island - Montauk Coastal Plan - Kevin McAllister Comments

This month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a revised flood-control plan to defend eastern Long Island’s southern coast from devastating storms. 

 

The Fire Island to Montauk plan calls for elevating homes, replenishing dunes, restoring marshes, and dredging the Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock inlets. 

The plan calls for elevating 24 hundred houses, and relocating basement utilities in others. Some houses would be rebuilt, and flood barriers would be erected around others.

Six miles of roads would be turned into dikes, shielding more than 1,000 homes from floodwaters.

But some observers say the plan fails to take sea level rise into account.

We speak to Kevin McAllister of Defend H2O, a non-profit concerned with coastal zone management and water quality.

Listen here

Hearings on the Fire Island - Montauk Plan will be conducted in September.  We will update this page when a schedule is published.

More information about the plan will be available here and at 
DefendH2O.org 
 

Fire Island - Montauk Coastal Plan - Kevin McAllister Comments

This month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a revised flood-control plan to defend eastern Long Island’s southern coast from devastating storms. 

 

The Fire Island to Montauk plan calls for elevating homes, replenishing dunes, restoring marshes, and dredging the Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock inlets.  

The plan calls for elevating 24 hundred houses, and relocating basement utilities in others. Some houses would be rebuilt, and flood barriers would be erected around others.

Six miles of roads would be turned into dikes, shielding more than 1,000 homes from floodwaters.

But some observers say the plan fails to take sea level rise into account.

We speak to Kevin McAllister of Defend H2O, a non-profit concerned with coastal zone management and water quality.

Listen here

Hearings on the Fire Island - Montauk Plan will be conducted in September.  We will update this page when a schedule is published.

More information about the plan will be available here and at 
DefendH2O.org 
 

Wind power is coming to Long Island!

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)  is expected to approve New York's first off-shore wind farm this week. The utility will buy 90 megawatts of power from the proposed Deepwater One wind farm 30 miles off the coast of Montauk. 

The project would connect with the South Fork’s electric grid in East Hampton.

Deepwater Wind will use the same technology for the site off Montauk as the company is using for their Block Island Wind Farm, the country’s first offshore wind farm now being built off the coast of Block Island. That wind farm is slated to be on line by the end of 2016.

Expected to be completed by 2020,  the Long Island wind farm would supply
enough power to meet the projected growth in energy needs on the east end of Long Island. It will also enable the town of East Hampton to meet its ambitious goal of being powered by
100% renewable energy by 2020.

Francesca Rheannon talks with Clint Plummer of DeepwaterWind, the company that will build the facility. 

Also Francesca talks with local activist Don Matheson of the Citizens Climate Lobby, one of the groups that has supported the adoption of wind power for Long Island.

Listen here

More info:

East End Beacon July 14 2016 
LIPA CEO: Deepwater Wind Project Off Montauk Expected To Be Awarded LIPA Contract

East End Beacon: December 2015 - Deepwater Wind proposes new off shore wind project


Sag Harbor On-line: June 29 2016 - East Hampton's Energy Goals Within Reach 
 

Wind power is coming to Long Island!

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)  is expected to approve New York's first off-shore wind farm this week. The utility will buy 90 megawatts of power from the proposed Deepwater One wind farm 30 miles off the coast of Montauk. 

The project would connect with the South Fork’s electric grid in East Hampton.

Deepwater Wind will use the same technology for the site off Montauk as the company is using for their Block Island Wind Farm, the country’s first offshore wind farm now being built off the coast of Block Island. That wind farm is slated to be on line by the end of 2016.

Expected to be completed by 2020,  the Long Island wind farm would supply
enough power to meet the projected growth in energy needs on the east end of Long Island. It will also enable the town of East Hampton to meet its ambitious goal of being powered by
100% renewable energy by 2020.

Francesca Rheannon talks with Clint Plummer of DeepwaterWind, the company that will build the facility. 

Also Francesca talks with local activist Don Matheson of the Citizens Climate Lobby, one of the groups that has supported the adoption of wind power for Long Island.

Listen here

More info:

East End Beacon July 14 2016 
LIPA CEO: Deepwater Wind Project Off Montauk Expected To Be Awarded LIPA Contract

East End Beacon: December 2015 - Deepwater Wind proposes new off shore wind project


Sag Harbor On-line: June 29 2016 - East Hampton's Energy Goals Within Reach 
 

Seedtime: On the History, Husbandry, Politics and Promise of Seeds

Host Francesca Rheannon talks with Scott Chaskey about his book Seedtime: On the History, Husbandry, Politics and Promise of Seeds.

The book was published in 2014 by Rodale Press. 

Chaskey is manager of the Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, New York’s first Community Supported Agriculture organic farm. The farm is owned by the Peconic Land Trust; an organization devoted to preservation of farms and open space on Long Island’s east end.  

Listen here

notes: Mr. Chaskey talks about seed saving and the Seed Savers exchange  a non-profit organization in Iowa that preserves heirloom plant varieties through regeneration, distribution and seed exchange. It is one of the largest nongovernmental seedbanks in the United States.